Hogwarts Retold: The Prisoner of Azkaban
by MelasZepheos
Summary: Lily, Lisa and Sally are back! The other Golden Trio! The other Big Three! The other Team Edward and Team Jacob! ('Ew.' 'Really' 'No.') The three characters no one knows about! Back for their third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but this time a murderer is on the loose and Dementors roam the castle they call home.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:-** All aboard for the glorious third year party!

**Chapter One: Summer Abroad**

"Sally! Sally! Watch this!"

"Be careful!"

"Sally, watch your brother!"

"I _am_ watching him!"

"I'm so sorry girls."

"It's fine Mrs Perks."

They were sitting on a blanket, looking up at an energetic eight year old being chased by an exasperated sister. There were four of them on the blanket, Mr Perks, who had his courdory trousers rolled up to display pale ankles, a white handkerchief tied on his head and a book in hand; his glasses perched on the end of his nose as he amused himself with the Tales of Beadle the Bard.

Then there was Mrs Perks, who looked a little less frazzled than she normally did, with her frizzy blonde hair tamed into a ponytail and a baggy white t-shirt on. She was freckled and brown after a week in Spain, and considerably unwound from when Lisa and Lily had shown up on her doorstep nine days earlier.

Lisa was lapping up the sunshine, stretched out with a big floppy hat on and a swimsuit that left her arms and legs exposed to the elements. Her dark hair had picked up streaks of red from the sun and at her side was a very new book, the title prominent in silver engraving. 'Bite Volume 7: Bite Back Harder.'

Lily was dressed like any normal person would be for the beach, which was very unusual for the people who knew her. After being coaxed into a swimsuit on the third day by Lisa she had been very badly sunburned, and had spent the rest of the week wearing the biggest baggiest most cottony t-shirt available. It was one of Mr Perks old university t-shirts, green with a white stick figure holding a bottle with xxxs on it. There was faded writing at the top which read 'Wasted,' but Mrs Perks had forbidden Mr Perks from explaining what the significance of the word was.

The boy they were looking up at was called Henry, and according to his mother there was no child more filled with energy in the whole of England. He had been allowed to have an ice-cream with the rest of them (a small one, since normal ice-creams made him shake hard enough to be a blur while sitting down) and even that small amount of sugar had been enough to send him off exploring at top speed.

The exasperated sister was called Sally-Anne Perks, Sally to her friends, Miss Perks to her teachers, Sally-Anne to her parents, and a worthy contender for 'happiest person in Hogwarts' award three years running. She was doing well climbing the rocky cliffs after her brother, given that she was an 'ancient' thirteen years old now (it was ancient to Henry okay?) but he managed to evade her, skipping around with the ease of a mountain goat.

"Don't fall," Lily called up. She had been watching them with increasing nervousness, and now they were nearly twenty feet off the sand and the black haired not-quite-thirteen-years-yet was on the verge of pulling her hair out.

"Thanks for the advice Lily," Sally shouted back. "Didn't think of not falling."

"Don't be mean," Lisa said, returning to her book, "she's worried."

"Sorry Lily."

"That's alright."

"I'm king of the mountain!"

"Not yet you're not."

It was funny really. The first time they had met Henry he had hidden behind his sister and regarded them with the deepest suspicion, but now he was proudly standing with his hands on his hips and his bare chest thrust out, like Peter Pan on his rock.

Lily had only been introduced to Peter Pan a month before, but she thought it was a rather marvellous story, and right now Henry was every inch the little boy who refused to grow up. She remembered herself at eight years old, getting her first dress robes, attending her first dinner party with the Malfoys. She had never imagined that the option existed to be outside, in the sunshine, with sand and water and in a whole different country.

Sally had finally caught up to her brother, and the two of them sat down on top of the rock, peering down at the blanket below. "You all look very small down there," she called out.

"You look very small up there," Lisa shouted back.

"She looks very unstable up there," Lily muttered.

Mrs Perks didn't seem too concerned about her offspring climbing so high, although at least Mr Perks had put down his book. "Remember when they were little?" he asked his wife.

She nodded, "I remember finding Sally asleep on top of the cupboard when she was two."

"On top of a cupboard?" Lisa asked curiously.

"Oh yes, she was all curled up with a packet of biscuits she had found. Sally used to climb anything and everything."

"She still does," Lily mumbled. They had had one particularly hair-raising incident the year before with an ancient iron ladder eighty feet above the ground.

"Trees, cupboards, drainpipes," Mr Perks was counting them off on his fingers. "We gave up on baby gates because she figured out how to climb over them."

"I'm impressed," Lisa was watching the siblings now chasing each other across the top of the cliffs. "Even I only figured out the lock when I was five."

"What's a baby gate?"

"Oh, muggles use them to keep their children from running all over the place."

"Ah."

As always, revelations about the wizarding world had caused Mr Perks to sit forward and press his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, his way of being interested. "Wizards don't have baby gates?"

Lisa shook her head, and Lily was still looking mystified by the whole thing. "The really magical wizard babies can undo locks really easily. And bouncing is a sign of having magic when you're a child, so they tend to climb places muggle babies don't. Gates would be useless for a wizarding family."

"Fascinating," Mr Perks was talking to his wife now, "do you think that might be why we had so many problems with Sally?"

"Henry doesn't have magic and he managed to climb down the chimney when he was one," Mrs Perks responded.

"What about you Lily?" Lisa prodded her gently, "were you a climber?"

Lily shook her head, "I read things. Like my parents would find that I'd pulled all of my father's notes out of his desk and was going through them mouthing all the words."

"Didn't he lock the desk?"

"He did."

"I don't know how your parents coped," Mrs Perks said, leaning back again to enjoy the sun as Henry whooped above them.

"Well we coped," Mr Perks said, picking up his book again, "and we didn't even know she was magic."

There was a shout and a scream of laughter as Henry went plummeting over the edge, hitting the sea with an enormous splash. Thankfully the edge of the cliffs wasn't quite as high, but it still made Lisa and Lily wince as he smacked against the water.

"Come on Sally!" He shrieked when his head came back up.

"I'm not jumping!"

He cackled and started to doggy paddle around in circles, leaving Sally to work her way down the rocks until she was back on solid sand.

They only had a couple of days left of their holiday, and after that it was less than a week before they would be heading back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry together. All three of them had been looking forward to it all summer, and despite the horrible events of the previous year there was nothing like taking the Hogwarts Express and seeing the castle shining in all its glory.

Lily had once more locked her wand up in its case in her desk drawers, although she had at least managed to avoid taking it out too often over the holidays. She missed doing magic even more than she realised, but being able to spend time with her friends had made it easier to do without.

It also helped that her parents were slowly becoming more accustomed to a muggle way of living. It had all started when Lily introduced them to the concept of muggle clothing, specifically trousers, and her father had immediately begun to move them closer to their muggle neighbours. What had begun with cardigans had soon become village council meetings and regular cinema trips. When Lily had left for Sally's he had even been attempting to persuade her mother to have a television in the house.

"Muggles use them to get all their news, and we could watch films without having to go down to the village."

Her mother had been more than a little opposed to the idea. "If you want to get one of those horrendous machines you may keep it in the shed. Haven't you seen what's happened to the muggle children of today? They can't even think for themselves without that box telling them what to do."

She had the feeling that by the time she got back for Christmas they would have a television sitting in the living room, and her mother's protests would have subsided to the occasional grumble about 'waste of time' and 'brain-rotting.'

Of course, they hadn't been entirely without wizarding news while staying at the Perks. Sally had finally convinced her parents to take out a subscription to the Daily Prophet, so every day they were met by the fluttering of an owl over breakfast. The first few times Henry had been shocked right out of his seat, but he quickly accepted it is as part of the morning routine and made it his mission to catch one of the birds.

Lily was convinced they were now sending only the craftiest and hardiest of owls.

The moving pictures of the paper had been another revelation to the Perks family. Funnily enough it was Henry who had accepted that easily, while Mrs and Mr Perks had been utterly flummoxed the first time Albus Dumbledore had waved at them cheerily from underneath the headline 'Headmaster Celebrates Return to School!' Of course now Mr Perks was readily accepting the change. "I wish they did it in our papers," he enthused as he read the Sports, "imagine watching Ryan Giggs scoring another blinder every morning over your coffee."

The look on Mrs Perks' face was more than enough to show her opinion.

On their last day in Spain the paper brought a surprising story

_HARRY POTTER INVOLVED IN AUNT INFLATION?_

_An expose by R. Skeeter_

_Harry Potter, long-renowned as the Boy Who Lived, has been involved in a mysterious disturbance that all began in a quiet suburb in Sussex._

_Sources at the Ministry can reveal that Mr Potter, famed defeater of He Who Must Not Be Named, may have used an illegal inflation charm on his aunt, who then had to be deflated by Ministry Officials. There is also a rumour that a man matching Mr Potter's description took the Knight Bus to London that same night. Said Stanley Shunpike, conductor aboard the Knight bus._

"'_e were 'ere weren' 'e Ern'? Neville Longbottom took the bus all the way up from Surrey ter London."_

_Was this mysterious 'Neville Longbottom' merely a fake name for the famed boy wizard to travel under? Was he fleeing from Ministry Hit Wizards? And what punishment, if any, will he face for this flagrant disregard for the Statute of Secrecy?_

_Cont. on page 3._

"Isn't Harry Potter that boy everyone talks about?" Mr Perks asked as he buttered some toast.

Lisa nodded, "he defeated He Who Must Not Be Named when he was only one year old, and he fought him again in our first year, and he fought Slytherin's Monster, whatever it was," she cut Sally and Lily off before they could start arguing again. The three girls had spent a large portion of the holiday trying to puzzle out exactly what Slytherin's monster could have been. Given that one of them was a Ravenclaw, not used to being wrong, one of them was a Slytherin, not inclined to being beaten, and one of them was Sally, the arguments had gotten pretty heated.

"And are none of the teachers concerned about a twelve year old running around solving problems that they can't?"

Lisa and Lily exchanged a look. They had wondered themselves whether maybe it wasn't quite a coincidence that Harry Potter and his friends had managed to do everything they managed to do. It did seem a bit unlikely that Dumbledore, who everyone said was the most brilliant and wisest wizard ever, would not know that something was going on.

"I suppose some people are just really good at hiding stuff from the teachers," Lily said innocently, aware of the irony of _that_ particular statement.

Mr Perks went back to his breakfast, but the look Mrs Perks gave the girls told them that she understood perfectly well what adventures they had been getting up to.

They whiled away the time finishing up their exploration of the house. On their first day they had discovered an old tunnel hidden behind the fake fireplace, and since then had been sneaking down it daily to see where it led. They had found a supply of torches and batteries, a device Lily was still highly suspicious of, and set off on an adventure.

The tunnel itself wasn't very exciting, and if they were honest the places it led to weren't very exciting either, but it still gave them a little of the thrill they had found when they started to map Hogwarts castle. Like when they had poked through a thin bit of wall and discovered the nearby tennis courts, or accidentally come up in the boy's changing room at the next-door swimming pool (they had swiftly departed, although there may have been a few more giggles than were strictly appropriate)

Now they were on the verge of finishing their exploration, and since they only had a few hours left before they left for the airport they were itching to get to the very end of the tunnel. They slipped away as the Perks parents were packing and managed to dodge Henry in the living room by hiding behind the sofa when they heard him coming.

They hurried down the tunnel; half crouched from the narrowness of it. Lisa was leading, as usual, with Sally behind her and Lily covering the rear. They passed the new hole in the tennis court wall, dragged Sally past the boy's changing room ('just a little peek?' 'EW! No!') and carried on until they could see light right at the very end of the tunnel.

The last few feet of the tunnel sloped sharply downwards, but they had experience of sliding down dark wet tunnels, and this one was a lot less dangerous than the waterslide behind one of the portraits on the seventh floor of Hogwarts.

Unfortunately, it didn't lead anywhere particularly interesting. They rolled out onto a dusty dirty hill, looking down at the village below them. There were cars snaking up the road below them and they could see the sea in the distance, sparkling a little in the mid-morning light.

They sat on the edge of the ledge they found themselves on and swung their legs a little, enjoying the breeze and the silence.

"I'm glad we came here," Lisa said.

"I'm glad we saw each other," Lily agreed.

"I'm glad we're going back soon," Sally said.

"Me too."

**AN:-** Aaaaaaaaaaand we're back.

Obviously Mrs Moon has been busy over the years, since _Bite_ now has 7 volumes. You'll remember that this is the volume where the witch and the werewolf are finally considering having children, but are concerned that the child might be a werewolf as well. In volume 8 (A Whole New Tail) we find that the child is a magical new type of shapeshifter who can change into ANY ANIMAL! Possibly my attacks at Twilight are getting a little bit too mean spirited, I apologise to fans of the book who may be offended.

My father used to have two t-shirts he wore all the time. One was bright red and had a stick figure man with crazy eyes and spirals around his head and jagged writing saying 'MAD!' the other was dark green, had a white stick figure man holding a bottle of moonshine with the word 'Wasted' over his head. My mother got very annoyed at him when he explained to me (aged six) what 'Wasted' meant. Possibly the Perks have a little bit of my parents in them as well.

My sister learned to climb over baby gates, I learned to open them. My sister was the climber, I was the one who managed to get into places I shouldn't have been able to.

The ongoing subplot of Lily's parents becoming acclimatised to the muggle world does have a point, I promise.

Nothing in canon said that Harry avoided any and all media coverage for blowing up his aunt, so I put in a little preemptive Rita Skeeter. Listing the Dursley's address as 'Sussex' was a deliberate mistake.

When I first came up with the concept for Sally I wrote down all the character types I had been avoiding for years, because I need to practice them. The list includes 'blonde' 'happy' 'hyper' 'energetic' 'anti-cynical' and in big capital letters 'FLIRT.' Sally's discovery of boys is significant (remember last year when she managed to amass loads of Valentine's Day cards during Lockhart's V-Day breakfast?) As for who thought looking at boys is icky and gross, it's Lily. Who else?

And so begins Hogwarts Retold: The Prisoner of Azkaban. It began with sex jokes, drinking jokes and three good friends looking forward to the year. Who knows how it will end?

Well me obviously, but you'll just have to read it.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:-** I do not like writing the girls out and about outside Hogwarts.

**Chapter Two: Diagon Alley Again**

After getting home it took them a while to organise a day when all three of their families would be able to get to Diagon Alley. In the end they could only get in on the day before term started. They were a little more organised than they had been the year before, and after the customary round of excited hugs and catching each other up on everything that had happened after they had spoken the day before (Lily's parents had a 'telephone' installed into the house now), they split off from their parents and went to get their things.

First they hit the apothecary, stocking up on Sally's potions supplies, which had run out sometime during second year. "Why didn't you get more earlier?" Lisa asked.

"You kept giving me your supplies."

After that they went to Madame Malkin's, because over summer they had all noticed that their robes were beginning to get small. Next was Flourish and Blotts, where they found the owner huddled behind his desk, rocking back and forth and crying.

"Is… everything okay?" Lisa asked, leaning over the desk.

"Never again," he whimpered, "never ever again, I'm not doing it, you can't make me."

The three girls exchange concerned looks. "Uh, what aren't you doing again?"

"It was only supposed to be one or two, but there were hundreds, and they never stop biting…" He hadn't blinked since they walked in, staring at a point somewhere on the back wall.

"The books wouldn't stop biting?" Lisa asked sceptically.

"Over there," he waved, and they looked over to a cage in the corner, where three books sat, their covers opening and closing of their own accord. A sign on the cage identified them as the '_Monster Book of Monsters_.'

"Well what's so bad about them?" Sally asked. "They're just books."

"Just books?" He whimpered, "just books?" He stood and grabbed a stick, revealing that his hand was covered in what looked like hundreds of paper cuts and bruises. Lily backed away as he went to the cage and unbolted it.

The books attacked, flying through the air and snapping at the shopkeeper, who fended them off with the stick. One of them managed to clamp itself to the end of the stick and required a vigorous shake to dislodge it. Lisa caught the book neatly and used the strap from her bag to hold it shut. Another book made an escape attempt but Sally picked it up and stroked it, cooing gently. The book immediately calmed down, going first from a quivering mass of hate to lightly wafting pages before finally going still.

"Thanks," Lisa said, "we just needed two."

The shopkeeper was staring at Sally, his mouth agape and his arms hanging limply at his sides. "That's it?" He asked, "that's how to make them be quiet?"

Sally continued to stroke her book, and Lisa followed suit, calming hers down enough that she could untie her bag-strap.

"We'll also need two copies of _Numerology and Grammatica_, one copy of _Unfogging the Future_, one copy of _Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles_ and three sets of the books for Ancient Runes."

The manager was still staring at them in disbelief, but he wobbled over to the shelves and put the stick back, still muttering to himself. They followed him through the stacks until they had all loaded up on the books they needed to get and paid, leaving him in a staring match with the one book left in the cage.

It was already almost lunchtime, so they decided to go to Florean Fortescue's and see what new concoctions he had on offer. Every summer Florean prided himself on coming up with at least three new ways to make a sundae, and no less than four new flavours of ice-cream. Sally of course ordered the pepper-mint-butter-cream-ripple delight (Only the Newest Flavours!) while Lisa and Lily stuck with the more traditional Blueberry and Mint chocolate.

They worked steadily through their ice-creams, enjoying watching the parade of wizards and witches go by them. Morag, one of Lisa's housemates, came over and they had a chat about the homework, and after that Susan Bones came to join them while she waited for her mum to arrive. Apparently all of the Hufflepuffs had had a barbeque over the summer, and she wanted to know where Sally had been.

"Why didn't you go?" Lisa asked when Susan had left.

Sally shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable. "After the last year things were a bit nasty in the house. I don't know if I really like Ernie."

"Nasty how?" Lily asked, "I thought only the Slytherins would be really horrible."

"Oh, just rumours and things," Sally mumbled. Both of Lily's friends were wary when talking about rumours, since the Slytherin girl had been at the centre of a very nasty one the year before.

They were about halfway through their sundaes when two familiar voices reached their ears.

"Didn't you say you had a new wand?"

The girls looked round to see Harry Potter's red-headed friend pulling a wand out of his coat. Sitting opposite him was the bushy mane of hair that signalled Hermione Granger. "Unicorn hair," the youngest Weasley boy said, "Ollivander said it was a nice sturdy wand. Really dependable."

"And what was Egypt like?" Hermione was leaning forwards, resting her chin on her hands, "I've always wanted to go."

"Oh wow," Sally whispered, leaning in close.

"What?" Lisa whispered.

"She likes him."

"No way."

All three of them were trying to keep eavesdropping while carrying on their own conversation.

"Look at her," Sally said, "she's leaning forward, listening to him. She normally only looks like that in class."

"You think?" Lisa was watching the two with new interest. "What's his name again?"

"Ron, and of course I think."

"She knew about your little crush," Lily chipped in, "Sally knows these things."

Lisa looked affronted, "my little crush? What about you, miss 'I like two boys and one of them isn't even in Slytherin?'"

"Shut up," Lily mumbled into her ice-cream.

Hermione and Ron were talking about her birthday now, and how he hadn't gotten her anything (I didn't know I was supposed to!) and how great her holiday had been. All three of the girls were now listening intently, trying not to make it obvious that they were trying to stay as quiet as possible and half-leaning out of their chairs to listen in.

"Why are we spying?" Sally hissed after a few minutes.

"Well it's _them_ isn't it?" Lisa replied, as if that made everything obvious.

"Harry! HARRY!"

The girls looked up in surprise to see Harry Potter walking down the street from the Leaky Cauldron. Up close he looked a lot less impressive than Lily had imagined, not much different to how her friend Terry had looked the year before. His mop of black hair was entirely out of control and hid the scar completely. His glasses looked like they had been broken a few too many times even for _reparo_ and he hunched his shoulders a lot.

"He looks a bit scruffy doesn't he?" Lisa said.

"Not like Michael?" Sally muttered into her straw.

"What was that puffer?"

Sally came up grinning, the picture of innocence, "nothing."

From the other table they heard Ron laughing and Hermione scolding the both of them, "I'm amazed Harry wasn't expelled."

That sounded juicy, so they got back to listening in.

"Forget expelled," Harry was saying, "I thought I was going to be arrested."

The three girls exchanged scandalised looks. They hadn't thought the Daily Prophet article might have been telling the truth. Apparently the entire Weasley clan was staying at the Leaky Cauldron, and it seemed like the interesting gossip might all have been talked over. Ron jumped at another opportunity to show off his wand and they moved on to the subject of their subjects.

Lisa and Lily listened with some interest as Hermione rattled off her class list, which seemed to involve every subject on the timetable. "I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of her this term," Lisa said, only slightly bitter. The Ravenclaw didn't appreciate being beaten, no Ravenclaw did, and the thought of getting out of Hermione Granger's brilliant shadow had been appealing.

They couldn't put off shopping any longer, and reluctantly gathered up their bags and walked down to Scribbulus Writing Supplies. Once they had fully stocked up on parchment, quills and ink they went back to the Leaky Cauldron to find that their parents had settled in around one of the tables in the corner and were swapping tales. Mr Perks seemed to be grilling Vincent Moon on life in the Slytherin Dormitory while Mr Turpin and Mrs Perks listened to Selene and Katie recounting one of their stories from Hogwarts.

"Ah!" Cried Mr Perks when he saw them, "and here's the girls now!"

They dumped their bags around the table and slid in to the booth, gratefully accepted the pumpkin juice that had been ordered for them. "Did you meet anyone from school?"

"We saw Harry Potter actually," Lisa said, taking one of her books out of her bag. Her mother immediately took the book away from her. "Apparently he nearly got expelled and arrested."

"Whatever for?" Selene asked.

"He said he blew up his aunt," Sally said.

"Oh is that all?" Katie Turpin was grinning, "I blew up a dog house when I was younger."

Mrs Perks was looking worried, "is blowing things up common for magical children?" She was eyeing her daughter a little nervously.

"Well it probably means he lost his temper," Katie said, "I blew up the dog house because I had a huge row with my grandma about wanting to be an Auror."

"How about you?" Mr Perks was in 'excited about magic' mode again, asking Selene and Vincent, "ever do anything explosive?"

"Oh no," Selene said graciously, "I was far too calm a child to ever blow things up. And thankfully so was Lily."

She smiled the three girls tried not to look uncomfortable. Lily had actually blown something up in a potions class the year before when Pansy Parkinson had been bullying her too much. Apparently she hadn't told her parents about it.

"Should we stay here for dinner?" Mr Turpin asked. Lisa had told her friends in their first year that her dad loved all things wizarding, and had been almost as excited as Lisa to come to Diagon Alley the first time.

They agreed to stay for dinner, and it turned out to be very enjoyable. Vincent Moon and Mr Perks traded each other for questions about the muggle or wizarding world all throughout dinner while Mrs Perks grilled Selene and Katie Turpin for more stories about their time at Hogwarts. The Leaky Cauldron was loud and boisterous that evening, thanks in no small part to the addition of the entire Weasley family, which had taken over the majority of the parlour.

When they had finished their meal the girls went to say hello to Fred and George, who they were good friends with. The year before the twins had made a special effort to cheer Lily up when she was feeling bad, and they had let Lisa know about a secret passageway in the Astronomy Tower that had led them on an adventure of their own.

"Girls!" Fred and George exclaimed when they saw them. "How are you this fine evening?"

"Very well thank you," Lisa was watching them closely to make sure they didn't have anything explosive or mischievous. Just because they were friends didn't exclude them from pranking. "Do you have a badge in your hand?" She asked.

Fred (or George) looked impressed that she had noticed, "we do indeed," he said, tossing it to his twin, who caught it and flipped it like a coin. "It belongs to our older brother Percy."

"And what are you going to do with a Head Boy badge belonging to your brother?"

"Well we thought about enchanting it. Maybe change the name to something more fitting." George (or Fred) flipped the coin back over to the first twin.

"Maybe Head Idiot."

Flip.

"Rule Boy."

Flip.

"Bighead Boy."

Fred and/or George snatched the badge out of the air, his eyes gleaming, "that's it!" They crowed, "see you back at school girls!"

And they were away up the stairs, cackling in delight.

"Sometimes I wish they were my brothers," Sally said thoughtfully, "then I remember what they're like."

"I think they're great," Lisa said leading the way back to where their parents were getting ready to leave.

"Who's great?" Mr Turpin asked suspiciously.

"The Weasley twins," Lily said, gathering up her bags.

"I remember Molly and Arthur," Selene said, "they were in the year above us."

"How do you remember them?"

"Oh they had a duelling club when we were at school, Molly used to win. A lot."

Katie nodded, "I remember as well. You wouldn't think it, but she was really amazing. Flitwick wanted her to become a professional, but she married Arthur instead."

They bustled out onto the street, where Mrs Perks checked her watch, "oh we've been so long," she said in dismay, "we need to get home to Henry before he drives my sister crazy."

"Crazier," Mr Perks muttered under his breath, making the girls giggle.

"Stop that," his wife told him, "I'm very sorry," she said to the other parents, "we have to get back home."

"Of course," Selene said graciously, "it was so wonderful to meet you both."

They managed to get out a round of goodbyes and thank yous and see you back at schools before Mrs Perks dragged Sally and Mr Perks away to get a taxi.

"We should probably be going as well," Katie Turpin said to the Moons, "it was very nice to meet you again properly," she shook Vincent's hand and had an only-mostly-awkward hug with Selene, "we must do this again sometime."

Lisa and Lily were hugging as well. "We'll be seeing each other tomorrow," Lisa said.

"Wait on the platform for me?"

"Of course."

They broke apart and grinned at each other before Lisa turned to follow her parents down the road. Selene and Vincent were both arranging their clothes, ready to apparate back home. Lily took a firm grip of her mother's elbow, but she was still watching Lisa's back as they spun in place and were away.

* * *

Once they were back home Lily took her bags up to her room and arranged the contents in her suitcase, pointedly not looking towards her dresser. Only when she had everything stored safely in her trunk did she open the top drawer and take out the long thin box, setting in delicately on the bed. She unlocked the catch and opened it to reveal her wand, resting in its silk lined box.

She picked up the wand and held it, feeling it warm in her palm. She was so tempted to swipe it right then, not even meaning to do magic. But that could still get her in trouble, and she had enough experience of Sally doing accidental magic to risk it. Instead she replaced it carefully to its box and closed the catch, smiling as she put it delicately on top of the rest of her things in the trunk.

She traipsed downstairs to where her parents were both sitting and reading with the wireless playing .it was comfortingly normal, the way that her home life always was. She collected one of her books from the shelf and curled up on the sofa next to her mother to read as well. They sat in silence, each absorbed in their own world, until eventually night had fallen.

"Well then," Vincent said, closing his book and taking off his reading glasses. "Ready for tomorrow?"

She nodded, "I think so."

"You'll be fine," Selene said, "and you've got your friends."

"I suppose," Lily stretched and yawned, "I can't help thinking though."

"Thinking what?"

"Well Sally said that weird stuff always happens to Harry Potter and his friends every year. I wonder if something's going to happen this year as well?"

**AN:- **Poor shell-shocked book shop manager person. I had fun with that. Obviously a lot of the students decided to go last minute book shopping (in my canon) because he was only _about to _cry when Ron and Hermione saw him.

I liked the idea of a Hufflepuff barbecue. I also like the idea of Sally not going. This is something I'm going to explore a bit more (and have explored in the previous books) about how actually being friends with each other has cut the girls off from their houses a bit. A common theme for Harry-Ron-Hermione fics is how their weird little co-dependent thing is actually not very good for them in the long run, and I wanted to dissect that a little in my own story. It might be a critical support group for Lily, but for Lisa and Sally it's more than a little isolated.

Sally's amazing powers of spotting crushes come forth again. Yeah the third book was when I first definitively noticed that Hermione and Ron liked each other. One of my earliest fics was actually all told from Hermione and Ron's perspective of the times when Harry wasn't around and focused on their developing romance. I've actually cribbed some of my old ideas from that story for this one.

'well it's them isn't it' of course the other students are going to be interested in those three. They have actual adventures with evil and good doing battle.

Katie Turpin is not an Auror. She couldn't pass the entrance exams. She just wanted to be one. Nowadays she's a defensive magic tutor and does security work for businesses. Mr Perks is of course very interested in magic and Mr Moon is very interested in the muggle world, so they have a good conversation.

I continue my Fred/George puns. I enjoy them, sue me. I like Fred and George very much. I also reference the popular fanon that Molly Weasley is actually secretly really good at duelling.

Apparently Sally has an aunt now. Also, I like Selene and Katie's relationship. They were in the same year at school (as was Vincent) and obviously had some sort of interaction, because back in that first Christmas Katie referred to Selene as 'Leena. They drifted apart after school, and were never really that close, and now they're working together on a textbook and starting to realise they could be friends. Sort of a 'small world' story.

Oh Lily, if only you knew.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:-** It's been a while with this one hasn't it? Well here we go at last, and I hope it's worth the wait.

**Chapter Three: The Dementor**

Apparating with a trunk was never an easy prospect, but with Vincent holding the trunk and Selene bringing Lily the Moons made it safely to the arrival point outside King's Cross. There was a Ministry wizard at the entrance to the alleyway marking off families on a clipboard. On a busy day like the start of term they had to regulate the apparition points very closely.

They tramped through the station, passing the muggles, who were milling around complaining loudly about the 8:05 from Doncaster being delayed because of leaves on the line. None of them seemed to notice that some of the trolleys had cages with owls balanced on top, or that there were one or two adults wearing a most remarkable assortment of clothes, none of which seemed to quite match.

They had a short wait to get through the barrier, during which Peter Grissom, one of Vincent's old friends, came over and they got to talking. Lily was happy to sit quietly, listening to the noise of the trains and the crowd. After they watched a woman in a kilt and ruff disappear through the barrier they pushed their trolleys over and passed through onto Platform 93/4.

It was a flurry of activity on the other side. Students and parents were running everywhere, fighting for compartments and struggling to get their heavy trunks up into the baggage area. Selene took charge to lead them through the crowd, navigating with ease to bring them to the train. Vincent hauled her case up and they wound their way back to the front carriages.

"I haven't seen Lisa or Sally yet," Lily said, trying not to sound worried.

"It's okay," Selene said, "they''ve still got ten minutes."

Just at that moment a voice cried out behind them, "Lily!"

She was swept up and spun around by someone while a loud voice whooped and cheered. When whoever it was finally put her back down she staggered in place until George Weasley, for that was who it (probably) was, set her steady.

"And how are you young Lily Moon?" He asked officiously.

"Dizzy," she drawled.

"And who are you?" Selene asked in her most arch tone.

George and Fred immediately stood ramrod straight, like they did when they heard McGonagall coming round the corner. "Gred and Forge Weasley ma'am," said one twin.

"Wedge and Gourd Feasley," said the other.

"So you're the twins I've been hearing so much about," Selene crossed her arms and regarded the two redheads. They were almost as tall as her, but it seemed to Lily that they had shrunk at the tone in her mother's voice. "The twins who thought it was funny to put on fake boils and scare first years when there was a monster causing chaos at the school?""

"Yes ma'am," Fred said in a much smaller voice than normal.

"What a very good idea," Selene's tone hadn't changed. ""It's good that someone tried to raise peoples' spirits last year."

"Uhm."

"Thanks?"

"I hope you're not terrorising my daughter too much," she was back to scary again, but Fred and George brightened.

"Of course we're not," they said in unison.

"We're teaching the girls."

"Nurturing natural abilities is more like it."

"Really?" Her mother's eyebrow turned on her.

Lily shrugged. "They're exaggerating," she said as she shot them a death glare.

George and Fred grinned, bowed to Lily, shook Selene's hand, and bounded away to harass their friend Lee Jordan, who had just arrived.

"Was that the Weasley's?" Mrs Perks asked as she arrived with Sally, looking distinctly less relaxed than she had while on holiday.

Lily nodded as Sally grabbed her in the customary strangulation grip she disguised as a hug. By the time Sally released her the Turpins had arrived as well. Lisa received her own back breaking Sally hug and then she and Lily shared a much less enthusiastic but no less friendly embrace. The clock told them they had only a few minutes left so with a final round of goodbyes from the parents they clambered aboard the Hogwarts Express and started to look for a carriage.

They weren't looking long before two red heads poked out from a nearly empty carriage and broke into wide grins. "Come on in girls!" The Weasley twins said, stepping aside to let them in. Sally went first, carrying her cat Tabby in his basket, followed by Lisa and then Lily.

Once they were all seated Fred and George leaned forwards, their eyes sparkling with identical mischief. "Now then," they said in unison.

"We've seen that you're working on a map of the school," said Fred.

The girls stayed quiet. They had wanted to keep their map of the school project a secret.

"Now we don't want to stifle such creativity from you youngsters," George continued. "Which is why we've decided to help you along a little."

"Help us along?"

"Of course."

"We'll let you know places we've heard about."

"Or know about."

"You can go and check them out."

"And finish your map."

"And what would you want in return?" Lisa asked suspiciously.

Fred looked affronted. "Nothing at all," he insisted. "We only want to further the careers of such promising young troublemakers."

The girls looked at each other, then back to the twins. "Okay," said Lisa, "we're in."

"Fantastic," Fred had an even broader smile than usual on his face. The sort of smile that gave the teachers nightmares. "We look forward to seeing you back at school youngsters."

The girls moved on through the chaos. There seemed to be a fight going on in one of the carriages they passed, and when they opened one door a cloud of foul smelling green smoke greeted them. It was the usual Hogwarts Express mayhem.

They were almost to the back of the train before they found a compartment. There were only another two left, one that seemed to have been claimed by a band of Slytherin third years, including Draco Malfoy, and the very back car, which housed a crumpled looking wizard fast asleep against the window. The girls retreated to the empty compartment, trying to shield Lily from Draco as best they could. Pansy Parkinson was hanging off his arm as he gave some great speech, probably about something Harry Potter had done, and his cronies were all watching enraptured.

"I hate him," Lisa said as they sat down. "I really really do."

"No, don't hate," said Sally, putting her cat basket down on one of the seats and checking inside to make sure her cat, Tabby, was okay. Tabby was an elusive feline, and after spending most of first year in the kitchens being spoiled rotten by the House Elves had proceeded to spend second year sleeping under the Hufflepuff beds. Sally was still convinced that he had known about Slytherin's monster somehow, and had been hiding from it. Lisa and Lily privately thought it was just lazy.

As they were settling their bags away Harry Potter and his friends trooped past, looking in to every compartment as they went. He looked just as unimpressive as he had in Diagon Alley, shaggy haired and gangly, his glasses held together with nearly a whole roll of sellotape. His red headed friend seemed to have gained a few inches, and Hermione's spine had an extra hunch, probably from all the new books she was lugging around.

"I heard she's taking every single subject," Lisa said as they huddled up onto the seats.

"How?" Lily asked. "How would she even do that? There's not enough hours in the day."

"Well she's Hermione isn't she?" Lisa said, only mostly bitter. ""I'm sure she'll find a way."

They didn't have long to wait until the train set off, rattling out of the station and away across the countryside. As always, Lily spent the first few minutes looking out of the window as they left London, enjoying the sight of all the muggles milling about in their usual day to day lives. She wasn't a big fan of cities and crowds when she was in the middle of them, but watching them from a distance was always calming for her.

The morning was spent covering the usual topics of homework. They hadn't talked about their homework much while they were on holiday together, and now they needed to do the usual catching up. Sally had a tendency to make up wild claims on her work whenever she found the book too boring, and so Lisa and Lily had got into the habit of helping her to correct the more outlandish statements.

Lily tended to have problems with her Transfiguration work, while Lisa was second only to Hermione Granger. Likewise, Lily was one of Professor Flitwick's favourite students, while Lisa was absolutely hopeless at Charms. Sally loved Astronomy, and between them they could just about finish all of Snape's impossibly complicated Potions homework. In the years before they had also done a lot of their own studying for Defence Against the Dark Arts. When one of your teachers turned out to be a murderous madman and the other a delusional showoff you had to make sure of your own grades.

"I wonder who's teaching Defence this year?" Lisa said as they took a break from their work.

"I don't care," Lily said. "As long as he knows about more than hair care and doesn't turn out to be evil I'll be happy."

"Our lives are weird," Sally mumbled. When Lily and Lisa looked at her she just shrugged. "I'm just saying, weird stuff happens to us."

One o'clock came, and with it the arrival of the food cart. The girls bought their usual assortments of sweets, liquorice wans, chocolate frogs and pumpkin cakes and a pack of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans for Sally, and as they settled in to eat conversation turned to Hogsmeade.

"I've been hearing about it all my life from my mum," Lisa said. "She said there's a joke shop, and a sweet shop that's the best in Britain, and the Shrieking Shack of course, well have to go and see that while we're there."

"What's the Shrieking Shack?" Sally asked. Of course she hadn't heard about it, although her parents had of course signed her permission form, so all three of them would get to go.

"They say it's the most haunted building in Britain."

"Ooh," Sally leaned forwards in her seat. "What makes it so haunted?"

"Well they say that there's ghosts there."

"But there's ghosts in Hogwarts as well. Why is the Shrieking Shack so special?"

"Well these ghosts are supposed to be violent. People have heard them screaming and breaking chairs and throwing things for years."

"Wow." Sally had the wide eyed look she always sported when she found out new things about the wizarding world. "We've got to see that."

Talking about Hogsmeade lasted them for hours, until the sky started to go dark and they had to put on their robes. Outside the rain was pounding against the windows and they could hear wind whistling through every crack and crevice in the old train. Outside the lanterns flickered on, then inside the carriage as well. Lily took her wand out of its box and slipped it into one of the pockets inside her robes. It was one of her favourite little rituals before going back to Hogwarts.

It was nearly six o'clock when the train rumbled to a stop. Lisa was up immediately, peering out of the window. "What's going on?" She muttered. "We can't be there yet."

Lily was up as well, going to the door and opening it. Just as she had put her head through all the lights went out. She restrained a scream and managed to bring it down to a yelp. Others further up weren't so quiet, and soon there were shouts and cries up and down the carriages.

Footsteps came closer and she ducked back in to the carriage, but before she could close the door bodies piled in. "Ow!" Sally said as someone fell onto her, but the most Lily could manage was a muffled grunt as she was squashed against the wall by a hulking figure.

"Get out of my way." She recognised that voice immediately. Draco Malfoy had come to their carriage for some reason. "Why have we stopped?"

"No one knows Malfoy." Lisa's voice was filled with contempt. Even in the pitch black Lily knew exactly what her expression would be. "Why are you even here?"

"Everyone was coming down here. I wanted to see what was going on."

"Can you hear that?"

They went silent, listening for whatever it was Sally had heard. There was a noise, something so unsettling it made the hairs on Lily's neck stand on end. Faint rustling of a cloak brushing against the walls, and a hoarse rattling breath that sounded like nothing she had heard before. It sounded wrong, like it was coming from something that had no right to be breathing.

Malfoy marched to the door and flung it open, looking out into the corridor. Lily was close enough to hear him gasp, then a second later he had gone, his terrified whimpers following him down the corridor. "I wonder what was wrong with him?" It was Luna, and immediately things felt better. She sounded entirely nonchalant about the entire situation, and as she moved to sit next to Sally the carriage felt lighter, despite the darkness.

"Close the door," Sally said, still sounding scared.

Lily stood and put her hand on the door handle, but before she could close it something appeared in front of her. She fell back onto her chair, too terrified even to scream. Towering from the floor to the ceiling, clad entirely in black robes, and breathing that cold dead rattle. It breathed in, and cold swept over them.

Lily struggled for breath, but even as she tried she could hear voices in her head, whispers in her ears in voices she knew.

_Muggle-lover_

_Nerd_

_Swot_

_Four-eyes_

_Useless fat weird loner freak clumsy muggling-lovingfreaknerdfoureyeswasteofspace_

She felt like cold water was being poured over her, she heard the mocking laughter of Pansy and Millicent and Tracy. She curled up tight and squeezed her eyes shut against it.

The sensation vanished, but the feelings remained. She was lying on the seat of the Hogwarts Express, her arms wrapped around her knees and her glasses on the floor. Her cheeks felt wet with tears and her nose was running. She couldn't seem to stop crying, and although the words weren't there anymore, she could still remember them.

She became vaguely aware that her friends had crowded around her. Sally was holding her in an awkward horizontal hug while Lisa stroked her hair. Luna was sitting by her feet, resting a hand on her knee. "What's wrong?"

"Didn't you hear it?"

"I heard something," Lisa said. "Like people laughing at me. And I felt so cold."

Sally nodded. "I felt bad. I felt so sad. I was suddenly thinking about when my grandma died. What was that thing?"

"It's called a dementor." Luna said. "They guard the wizard prison. They suck all the happiness out of you."

It sounded almost like one of the many non-existent creatures she routinely talked out, but it was too real. "What do we do?"

Luna went over to their stash of sweets and started rummaging through the discarded wrappers until she found a bar of unopened chocolate. "My dad always says that chocolate makes everything better," she said, breaking the bar up and handing them each a piece. "I remember when we had my mum's funeral he made me hot chocolate and I felt a little better."

Lily nibbled on the chocolate, and felt warmth spreading back into her chest. She ate a little more and the warmth came back to her hands and feet as well. She stopped crying, and was able to sit up and wipe her face. Sally handed her a handkerchief and she blew her nose a few times. Lisa still had a hand around her shoulders, and she leaned into the hug gratefully. As they sat there eating their chocolate a man came past the carriage, putting his head through the door.

He looked shabby. His hair was graying and there were old scars marring what might have been handsome features. At first Lily thought he was at least as old as her own father, but then realised he was probably ten years younger at least. Despite his alarming appearance his smile was warm and comforting. "Are you girls alright in here?"

"Yes thank you," Luna said cheerfully. "But why was there a dementor here?"

The man looked impressed. "I suppose it was you who got the chocolate Miss?"

"Luna Lovegood, and yes."

"Well good work. I need to talk to the driver, but if you four are okay in here?" He waited until they had all nodded before moving on.

"He seems nice," Luna said. "I wonder who he is."

"No idea," Lisa said, still focused on Lily.

The chocolate was all eaten now, and she felt a lot better. She sat up properly and pulled her hair back into its usual ponytail, taking a moment to clean her glasses before setting them back on her nose. She felt close to normal now. The man who had come by earlier had returned as well, and opened the door again. "Is everyone okay in here?"

They all nodded. Before he could leave Luna asked bluntly, "who are you?"

He smiled, and it did a lot for his face, making the scars seem less prominent. "Professor Remus Lupin, at your service," and he was gone.

"Professor?" Sally said.

"He must be the new Defence professor," Lisa said. "He seems quite nice."

"And he knew about the chocolate," Luna said, as if that settled everything.

The train had started again. Slowly at first but gathering speed. Outside the landscape was the wild and hilly country they knew signalled that Hogwarts was near, but the rain continued to come down in sheets, hammering the windows and walls. Finally, the train slowed and pulled into Hogsmeade.

**AN:-** The problem with this book is that this is the one where I'm hoping I can finally go completely off the rails and write my own stories that are happening with very little interaction with the main characters. However, that's requiring a lot more planning than the last two fics required. Ah well, it'll be worth it.

So some stuff about this chapter.

There is a point to Fred and George helping them with the map, both from an in-universe and meta standpoint. It should become more clear with the 4th and 5th books though.

Sally is starting to remind me a little bit of Phoebe Buffay. Which is okay, because I love her. Perhaps a little less scatterbrained though.

The reason I had Draco and crew come into their cabin was because Neville and Ginny came into Harry's. i imagine when the train stopped a lot of people started moving around, so i thought Draco might follow the noises and end up following Neville and Ginny, ending up in the girls' cabin. I had Luna there because Luna is awesome and fun to write.

Ah, dementors. What do they make you see and feel? For Lily it's the previous two years worth of bullying. She feels the physical sensations of the pranks, hears the same words, hears Pansy et al laughing at her. Lisa had the experience of being bullied while in a muggle primary school for being 'weird' and Sally's was more internal, dealing with her own insecurities at not fitting in with her friends and not being smart enough. Luna of course experienced her mother's death again. I wasn't really sure how to write Sally and Luna's experiences. I've seen people who portray them as not allowing that sort of stuff to affect them at all and others who portray them as breaking down completely. I do think that Luna has some very dark moments she needs to deal with, but in Book 7 (spoilers) she helps Harry to find hope again. But at 12 I don't know if she would have had the same strength. So I just didn't really address it.

I don't like people depicting Lupin as being really handsome. He's described as pallid, pale, scarred, thin, prematurely grey and wrinkled, and looked very ill and haggard. He may still be good looking, and his personality makes up for a lot, but there's a tendency in fanart and fanfic to describe his amazing good looks, flowing hair and etc etc etc. Just a personal peeve. He's not ugly, but he's not bishie.

Hestia11 asked for some actresses to help visualise the girls, so here's a very quick guide.

Sally: Kate Hudson in Almost Famous

Lily: Sort of a mix. I imagine she looks kind of like Stana Katic, Angelina Jolie, Kristen Stewart. Generally pale skinned brunettes. But she also wears glasses.

Lisa: I actually ran Lisa through morphthing. Morph Natalie Portman with Keira Knightley. That's what Lisa looks like in my head.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:-** Slow going on this one I'm afraid. Testing the waters a bit actually.

**Chapter Four: Hogwarts**

They piled out of the train and into the driving wind and rain. They were soaked to the skin in moments, and hurried with the rest of the students down to where the carriages were waiting for them. As Lisa held open the door for her friends they heard Hagrid's familiar bellow and the nervous chatters of the first years. It was already starting to feel like home again.

They piled in, waiting until Morag had climbed in as well before closing the door and trying to shake themselves dry. Morag was one of Lisa's friends from Ravenclaw, and although she might not have been Lily's biggest fan, she at least wasn''t actively mean to her face, which made a nice change for Lily. They sat in only mostly uncomfortable silence all the way up to the castle, where they raced up the steps as quickly as they could.

Inside the Entrance Hall they stopped and stamped their feet a few times, rubbing their hands and blowing on them. It was usually cold on the first day of term, but being wet was not something they were used to. Everyone was talking about the strange black robed figures on the train of course, and one or two were talking about the scruffy new professor as well. Lupin had obviously made quite an impression already.

"Why did they even have those things at a school?" Lisa huffed as they started to file into the Great Hall.

No one had an answer to that, and the unmistakeable drawl of Draco Malfoy was reaching their ears anyway. "You fainted, Potter? Is Longbottorn telling the truth? You actually fainted?"

They looked back to see that Malfoy was blocking Potter and his friends from getting into the castle. The girls moved out of the crowd so they could watch.

"Shove off, Malfoy," said Harry's friend, looking angry.

"Did you faint as well, Weasley?" Malfoy went on, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Did the scary old Dementor frighten you too, Weasley?""

"Says the boy who sounded like a puppy when he saw that one last night," Lisa muttered.

Professor Lupin had arrived though, and now walked up behind the boys. "Is there a problem?"

It was obvious what Malfoy thought of Lupin, giving him a long lingering stare. It was a look Lily recognised. She had been on the receiving end of it enough times.

"Oh, no — er —_Professor_." With a smirk he led his goons into the Entrance Hall, pushing past Sally and Lisa as he went.

In the crush the girls ended up behind Potter and his friends, ambling towards the Great Hall when Professor McGonagall's voice suddenly rang out. "Potter! Granger! I want to see you both!"

"It's not even the start of term yet," Sally whispered. "What could they have possibly done?"

"Well it's them isn't it?" Lisa whispered back. ""They probably set fire to the lady with the sweets or something."

As McGonagall spirited Potter and Hermione away the girls entered the Great Hall properly, and everyone started to split up to go to their house tables. The three girls stopped at the door and hugged briefly. "Keep your chin up," Lisa whispered into Lily''s ear as they went off to their own tables.

The Slytherin table was the same as she remembered it. Pansy was still hanging on Draco's arm while Crabbe and Goyle sat like bodyguards around the two. The older years were engaged in their usual sneering at the teachers and the younger years were breaking up into their friendship packs. Lily found herself sitting once more alone in the crowd.

"Hello trouble."

She grinned as Terence slid onto the bench next to her. He was in the year above her, and he was one of her only friends in Slytherin. He had dark blonde hair and as he got older he was getting much broader in the shoulders. He was still taller than her, by nearly a full head height, and when he smiled she felt a funny little tug in her stomach. He was almost too big to be a good Seeker now, and as he leaned forwards his robes were too tight across his shoulders and chest. She found herself watching as the wool stretched itself out, almost enough to pop open the top button on his robe.

"Are you okay?"

She realised that she hadn't actually said anything to him yet, and mumbled unintelligibly as Professor Flitwick led the new First Years in to the Hall.

"This lot don't look like much do they?" He said with a grin as they lined up along the wall, looking terrified and tiny under the night sky. ""Then again you looked like a midget as well."

She felt her neck getting hot and shrugged, trying her hardest to look like she was paying attention to the words coming out of his mouth. _What__'s wrong with me? _She focused on the hat as if it was the most interesting thing in her whole world. _Talk to him like a normal human being!_

"How was holiday?" She managed.

As her wacky emotions starting beating up her tongue for its lunch money he shrugged and leaned closer so she could hear him above the singing. Unfortunately this also put his mouth much closer to her ear and she could feel his breath on her neck. "It wasn't bad. I spent most of it flying around the indoor pitch in Oxford. One of the talent scouts said I should come back in a few years as well."

"That's exciting," she said.

He nodded, "I just wish I could play here as well. It's no good being great in training if I never get to go up against another team."

The hat had finished and Flitwick was stepping up and unfurling the parchment. "Maybe you should try out for one of the other spots?"

He shrugged. "I know I'm a bit big for a Seeker now, but it's my favourite position, and it's the one I'm best at." She could tell he had been thinking about it a lot. "I don't think Malfoy's going anywhere though, so maybe you're right." As the first Slytherin student was sorted he nodded decisively. ""Okay, I'll try out for chaser this year."

The sorting went much faster than she remembered from the previous year, although that might have been because Terry was sitting close enough next to her that she could feel his leg brushing against hers whenever he shifted in his seat. She was convinced she was bright red and sweating by the time Williams, Kaiden had been sorted into Hufflepuff, but thankfully most people's attention had been caught by Harry Potter and Hermione Granger entering the hall. Halfway down the table Malfoy immediately started to mime a fainting fit while Pansy cackled with glee, but they quieted down when Professor Dumbledore stood and smiled at them.

Professor Dumbledore may have been a very old and very wise wizard, and most of the students might have thought of him as a lovely man, but Lily had never forgotten how in her first year he had given Gryffindor the House Cup, and she thought the way he had done it had been almost cruel. Nonetheless, when he smiled and the candlelight made his beard glow silver, she couldn't help but feel comforted at returning to the castle again.

"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast…" This was it, she knew. The reason why the Dementors had been on the train.

"As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business." She could have sworn Dumbledore looked angry for a moment, but it passed and he was his usual smiling self. "They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," he continued. "And while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises — or even Invisibility Cloaks."

Now that was interesting. She remembered again her first year. How she had snuck out to see Lisa and Sally near the end of term and had heard Harry's friend on the stairs, but hadn't been able to see him. She looked at Harry Potter now and saw he was looking worried. Dumbledore was still speaking. "It is not in the nature of a Dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the Dementors."

The hall was silent. Several students looked at each other with worry clear in their faces, but not a word was spoken.

"On a happier note," Dumbledore went on when he was certain everyone had understood the message. "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Lily clapped, but she was one of the few. Most people gave a little half-hearted applause, but it died away quickly.

"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued when they were all clapped out. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."

The Gryffindor table went mad with applause. Lily joined in, but most of the Slytherins were simply staring at the giant in shock. Lily looked across to Lisa and Sally, who were both taking Care of Magical Creatures. Sally was clapping just as hard as the Gryffindors, but Lisa was looking a little apprehensive. The girls locked eyes across the room and Lisa gave a shrug and a grin.

Finally only three students were left clapping, and Hagrid was wiping his eyes on the tablecloth as Dumbledore finally finished. "Well, I think that's everything of importance. Let the feast begin!"

The tables suddenly groaned beneath the weight of the food that was on them and the heady smell of rich cooking intoxicated the hall. Terry immediately started to pile food on his plate. He was the same as all the other boys, eating until he was completely full and yet somehow never seeming to get fat. Lily supposed it was all the Quidditch training. She watched as he spooned peas into his mouth and chewed, his jaw standing out every time his mouth closed. When he swallowed she could see his Adam''s apple jumping in his throat.

"Aren't you eating?" He suddenly asked.

She felt her cheeks get warm and dug her spoon into the nearest bowl, putting whatever was in her spoon onto her plate.

"Nothing but gravy?" He was grinning that horribly lovely grin again. "I really don't think you need to go on a diet Lily."

She shrugged so hard her robes came up to her ears and added a spoonful of mashed potatoes and some chicken to the lake of gravy on her plate. Aware that he was still watching her and smiling, she started on the chicken, wishing he would just go back to his own meal. Thankfully his hunger was a powerful force, and he went back to his sausages.

Conversation momentarily stopped as every student piled food onto their plates and got stuck in. The food was just as good as she remembered, piping hot and as rich as always. As she ate she started to relax a little, turning back to Terry. "So are you looking forward to school?"

She was very impressed with herself for producing a full sentence that made sense, but he just shrugged. "Not really. I want to play Quidditch, and you don't need good grades for that."

"But shouldn't you have good grades anyway? Just in case."

He nodded. "Yeah, you're right." He returned to his sausages, only mostly morose.

Conversation quickly turned to the subject of Sirius Black.

"Did you hear about it?" Terry asked her.

"I saw it in the _Prophet,_" she said. "But my parents wouldn't explain who he was."

"He's one of the most notorious Death Eaters ever." Terry's eyes had lit up. "It was right after the war had ended and You-Know-Who was gone. Black blew up a street in London and killed thirteen people at once."

"Why?"

"He's insane, does he need a reason? Maybe he thought that it would bring You-Know-Who back somehow. Or maybe he just went completely mad after his boss died."

"And he escaped Azkaban somehow?"

Terry nodded. "No one knows how either. It's huge news."

"That must be why the Dementors are here!" She exclaimed.

Several people turned to look at her. Clearly the topic had been on everyone's minds. She blushed and hunched down a little in her seat. "Sirius Black is loose. They must be worried he's coming to Hogwarts so they sent Dementors here..."

That sparked a riot of conversation that thankfully turned everyone's attention away from her. Terry was looking thoughtful. "Why would they be worried that Black would come here? Unless..." He looked over to the Gryffindor table, and Lily followed his gaze to see Harry Potter, who was eating his way through a goulash of some kind.

"Why?" Lily asked. It seemed a bit far-fetched that for the third year in a row Potter would be involved in something so unusual.

"It makes perfect sense!" Terry said. "Potter killed You-Know-Who! Black was his biggest supporter! He must blame Potter for You-Know-Who''s death!"

Lily looked back to Potter, searching his face. "I wonder if he knows?"

Terry shrugged. "I'm sure he'll find out soon enough."

The rest of the meal passed without incident and the Slytherins filed away to the dungeon. Lily managed to see Sally for a second as the Hufflepuffs went down to their dormitory while the Slytherins went deeper in the dungeons.

Every time she came back at the start of term she was convinced that the dungeons rearranged themselves. Like she was fairly certain they the portrait of Baroness Thatch, a merciless witch who once enslaved an entire town of muggle miners, had been down a small nook to the left, but now it was prominently displayed on the wall alongside the Slytherin Common Room.

"Wolfsbane," the prefect at the front said, and the wall slid aside to reveal the Common Room.

Most of the older students wanted to hang around and talk about Black, but Lily just went straight through to the dorm. She found Daphne Greengrass already inside, carefully folding her robes and putting them into her drawers. Some students preferred to leave everything in their trunks all year, but Daphne was much neater than most.

Lily collapsed onto her bed, rolling around in the covers until she felt comfy. "Good summer?" She asked Daphne from beneath the covers.

"I spent most of it visiting the Malfoys."

"I'm so sorry," Lily poked her head out from under the blanket.

"Well it wasn't so bad. All very formal and dull, but my sister came with us, and she absolutely adores him."

"That must have been fun."

"Well you know how much Draco loves an audience."

Lily smiled. She appreciated her friendship with Daphne more than the other girl knew. It was nice to have a friend in her house. She loved Lisa and Sally of course, but knowing that at least one person in her own year liked her felt like an achievement. "What classes are you taking this year?" She had never even thought to ask.

"Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Divination."

"We're going to have a lot of classes together," Lily said. "I'm going Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies."

"You're doing Muggle Studies? Why?"

"I just think it'll be interesting. Y'know, learning about muggles properly instead of just finding things out."

"Finding things…" Daphne realised. "Oh right. So did you see Lisa and Sally over the holiday?" Daphne had joined their study group a few times, but things were always a little tense.

"We went to Spain. It was a lot of fun."

"Draco and his family went to their French home after we left," Daphne said. "It wasn't quite so fun."

"You weren't invited to the villa this year?" She was surprised. It had once been tradition that all of the major Slytherin families would receive an invitation to spend a few days in southern France with the Malfoys. Her father had received an invitation most years as well, but only because the Malfoys had wanted to make fun of him for living with muggles. The invitations had stopped coming some time in First Year and neither her mother nor father were particularly disappointed.

"Ever since your parents started refusing the Malfoy family doesn't receive as man guests."

Lisa sensed that Daphne was being diplomatic about something, probably one of those things that she had seen Lucius Malfoy and Ian Greengrass arguing about late at night when she had snuck out onto her balcony. She let the subject go.

"Aren't you glad to be back?" Daphne asked her as they got changed into their night dresses.

"Yes," Lily said, completely honest. "I am."

**AN:-** I love writing Lily with a crush. I spoke to some of my friends about silly things they remember doing. Not actually putting food on their plate, I remember the inability to speak from my own experiences...

I wonder what that funny little tug in her stomach could possibly be.

Kaidan Williams. My second project right now is my Mass Effect fanfiction, featuring Kaidan Alenko and Ashley Williams. I'm not very creative when it comes to background characters.

I think the Black-Voldemort-Potter thing is kind of obvious. The newspaper mentions Black was one of Voldy's biggest supporters, everyone knows Potter killed Voldy... Kind of easy to put together. (obviously the truth is a little different)

My rather unsubtle jab at the late Baroness Thatcher. I am not a fan of her and I will say no more so as not to speak ill of the dead.

Of course Snape set the password as Wolfsbane. The subject of werewolves has been haunting him a little of late.

See you in chapter 5! Please read and review!


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